Manitoba — Transportation

Manitoba Taxis and Car Rentals

Taxis may be widely available in Winnipeg and most smaller cities, but car rental is a more efficient and affordable way to travel between cities in southern Manitoba. Unicity Taxi (+1-204-925-3131) boasts the biggest taxi fleet of any Winnipeg taxi provider, but Duffy’s Taxi (+1-204-925-0101) is the first company whose fleet includes the environmentally-friendly Toyota Prius. Most Manitoba taxi drivers are accustomed to tips of 15 percent. Pembina Highway’s Executive office offers the best rental car deals and widest vehicle selections outside of Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, but most other sizeable Manitoba communities also have car rental options. Winter prices plummet dramatically along with Manitoba’s temperatures.

Manitoba Water Taxis

Northern Airports and Marine Operations provides ferry routes to about eight different isolated Manitoba villages, many of which are predominantly First Nations communities accessible only by water or air along the province’s lakes. There are regular ferry routes between Sea Falls and Norway House, Islandview and Bloodvein, and Split Lake and York Landing.

Manitoba Trains and Buses

Winnipeg is the only Manitoba city with a sizeable public transportation system, but even Winnipeg’s city bus service offers only sporadic service outside the inner city and major suburban roads. Some bus routes operate far less often during weekends and weekday evenings.

Greyhound Bus, Beaver Bus Lines, and Grey Goose Bus Lines are Manitoba’s biggest inter-city bus companies. With routes that regularly travel between most of Manitoba’s major communities, distances can be long and the scenery can get monotonous, especially during longer journeys to neighboring provinces or Manitoba’s isolated north.

Rail may be the most scenic way to travel across Manitoba, especially as Winnipeg’s Union Station is VIA Rail’s main hub. However, Winnipeg is just one of six Manitoba stops VIA Rail’s Canadian route makes during its four-day journey between Vancouver and Toronto. Manitoba’s other major rail route, the Hudson Bay service, leaves Winnipeg three times per week to make a 37-hour journey to the far northern communities of The Pas, Churchill, and Thompson. Another branch line travels twice a week from The Pas to Pukatawagan.